Reno Street Audio

Reporter Ariel Smith interviews Lisa Martin the manager of The Melting Pot World Emporium in Reno, which brings burner culture year round to the Biggest Little City and much more. They discuss the importance of fair trade, sustainable fashion, and navigating selling smoking accessories after the legalization of marijuana in the state.

Peter Menchetti is back on the podcast to explain how he's celebrating 30 years of Sticker Guy with a special edition of Debauch-A-Reno.

On this episode, we have a bead maker, a man who gets by selling his blood, and a day laborer, all trying to survive with odd jobs amid rising prices in Reno. When we interviewed her, Paula said she was a starving artist who lived in a motel. She was often seen along Truckee river near Sierra Street, selling necklaces and bracelets. We'll also listen to Josh. He was sleeping outside city limits to avoid trouble, struggling with alcohol, and trying to get work by Fisherman’s Park where day laborers are often picked up. Finally, we’ll listen to Steve. He’s afraid of shelters where he says he gets sick. He does temp work and sells his blood to get by.

Reporter Jacob Kostuchowski talks to several community members from a Stop Cop City teach-in which recently took place at the Holland Project. Hear about what cop city might become and the possible implications it could have in Reno and other localities across the United States.

Kingkini Sengupta, a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, has completed her reporting work for Our Town Reno. Before her departure, she took the time to speak with Reynolds School of Journalism colleague and fellow Our Town Reno reporter Gaia Osborne to share what her experience has been like reporting for our street collective.

We recently had an episode on old men on the streets of Reno, Nevada avoiding the Nevada Cares campus and trying to survive despite the cold winter we’ve gone through. We wanted to do an episode about unhoused women, why are they living on the streets, do they stay safe , what are their hopes , what is their message to the community. All of the women you’ll hear on this episode were along the Truckee River. First from our archive audio we will hear Jaime a mother of six from Winnemucca who was separated from her children and faced daily sexual assault, self medicating with drugs, and mistrustful of the world around her. In Part Two of our episode we hear from Baby Bleu who at the time of our interview was going for resources during the day at the Eddy House but sleeping outside. She started as a sex worker as teenager while going to Hug High at its former location near Sutro. She had recently got kicked out of an apartment. In Part Three of our episode, we go to Barbara Bennett Park with former Our Town Reno reporter Lucia Starbuck who met Annette there. At the time of the interview she was spending her days there with her ailing dog and staying wit a group to feel safer. In our final part to this podcast with archive audio of women living on the streets we’ll lend an ear to Joan, in her 70s, and a former Reno Gazette Journal employee. At the time of the interview she was on a waiting list for assisted senior housing, and felt harassed by police and other unhoused who tried to give her drugs.

Cameron Rose was recently unhoused, and being arrested for sleeping outside. Just a few years later, he's now a student at UNR running for ASUN student body president. The reporter for this episode is Gaia Osborne.

Kenneth Scherr, a UNR grad in psychology starting a business in Reno, is also an author whose new book Behaving as US has as its subtitle The Art of Cooperation. He discusses politics getting in the way of friendships, in real life and online, and how to find a better way.

With Tesla enabler Mike Kazmierksi, president and CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, now stepping down, we went into our archives to hear from different residents of Reno who have felt "Teslafied," in recent years, as in kicked to the curb, now living on the streets due to higher rent prices, gentrification, motels being torn down, inflation ... not directly due to Tesla arriving on the scene with massive tax breaks, but certainly feeling like it was a consequence, and that they were collateral damage.

Dustin is trying to help his wife get her kids back from Child Protective Services, after they were victims of abuse from her incarcerated ex-husband and more family troubles. The reporter for this episode in Reno, Nevada, is Brad Vincent.